Persons with gender disorder petition Parliament over IDs

Over 100 Kenyans who reportedly suffer a gender discrimination crisis have petitioned Parliament to have the government issue them with identity cards after their sex becomes apparent in adulthood.

The petition tabled on Wednesday by nominated MP Isaac Mwaura and signed by 20 people referred to as a marginalized group with “gender identity disorder” claim to suffer stigma and discrimination as they are not able to acquire identification documents due to their conflicting gender status.

“These are people born with poorly formed genitalia and it is not possible to determine whether they are male or female at birth but as they grow older, their gender becomes apparent only from their physical features,” the legislator said.

Victims of the condition — which is not widely known or recognized but its few victims suffer silently — appeared to have caught MPs off guard, who required a clarification on the number of victims and its prevalence.

Mr Mwaura gave an example of an individual who grew up as a girl — Mary Waithera — and even went to a girls’ secondary school, where she was school captain but on completion, her male features started to show, forcing her to change her name to that of a male — James Karanja.

He said the individual, who is now a man has found it difficult to access public services or even join university since certificates, where she scored a B Minus, bear the female name and yet he has male features.

The man is in a dilemma since he cannot use male washrooms as a man would and has to squat to relieve himself for despite being an adult, his sexual organs are still not yet fully formed.

Parents also face stigma and suffering since they are not able to tell the gender of their children as they grow up, only to realize that it was a boy or girl later.

Mr Mwaura said Mr Karanja’s mother had developed a mental problem, since she did not know how to cope with the ridicule directed at her family after it was realized that the “girl” she had been bringing up all along was actually a “man.”

According to the nominated lawmaker, who represents the disabled in Parliament, said so intense is the stigma for the individuals who suffer the condition that the three of them who had promised to come to Parliament to witness the tabling of the petition, withdrew at the last minute for fear of ridicule.

The MP said there are about 120 such people spread across the country.

He argued that besides the Ministry of Interior coming up with a mechanism for issuing national identity cards to those living with the gender disorder, it should also allocates funds to cater for corrective surgery, which reportedly costs about Sh500,000.

The petition, which was directed to the committee on National Administration and Security by Speaker Justin Muturi, also calls for legislation to establish programmes for dealing with people with such disorders and public awareness to end stigma and discrimination for the group.